Disclaimer - By publishing this information on this Web site, the Boston, Massachusetts law firm of Altman & Altman LLP is not claiming to represent any clients or cases mentioned here. The content provided is designed to inform readers and is not intended as legal advice.

November 30, 2011

Motorists Encouraged to Remain in Vehicles After an Accident Following Multiple Massachusetts Highway Fatalities

After a series of deaths in which drivers have stepped out of their vehicles on Massachusetts highways, Massachusetts State Police are reminding drivers to always remain in their vehicles after an accident until police arrive. After these three recent accidents, all of which appear to have initially been minor auto accidents, three people have died as a result of exiting their vehicles and stepping out into traffic. The first of these three incidents occurred on Friday morning, when a 75-year-old Somerville man was struck and killed in the Tip O’Neill Tunnel in Boston. Before hit by oncoming traffic, David Dang was reportedly standing in the traffic lane when he got out of his car after what seems to have been a minor car accident.

Just a few hours later, two other motorists were hit after getting out of their car in Lynnfield, just fifteen miles north of Boston. State Police report that a 2000 Saturn SL2 sedan had halted in the median on the southbound side of Route 128, at approximately 11:45 p.m. Two of the four occupants of the vehicle then exited the car and were standing in the travel lane when they were both hit by a vehicle. Police said Conner Toscano, 18, of Billerica was pronounced dead at the scene and 17-year-old Billerica woman was severely injured. She was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

At approximately 1:15 a.m. on Saturday morning, Massachusetts State Police responded to yet another similar accident in Lancaster. On Route 190 northbound, just north of Exit 7, authorities reported that a 2005 Toyota Camry had hit the guardrail and was disabled in the median. The driver, Scott Symonds, 38, of West Boylston, then exited his vehicle and was hit by a 2006 Ford pickup truck driven by Eric Sifert, 42, of Westminster. Symonds was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

David Procopio, spokesperson for the state police, said “The crash remains under investigation to determine if any charges are warranted…The investigation is being conducted by Troop C of the Massachusetts State Police, along with the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section and the State Police Crime Scene Services Section.”

Each of these highway-related fatalities involving people getting out of vehicles remain under investigation by Massachusetts State Police. State police are reminding motorists in disabled cars to try to get their vehicles out of the road immediately following an accident and to stay in their cars until police arrive at the scene of a reported crash.

By publishing this information on this Web site, the Boston, Massachusetts law firm of Altman & Altman LLP is not claiming to represent any clients or cases mentioned here. The content provided is designed to inform readers and is not intended as legal advice.